Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) Position Boosted by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 309,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,334 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group were worth $740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD boosted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 29,131,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,050,000 after purchasing an additional 2,336,000 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 6,537,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,155,000 after purchasing an additional 52,395 shares in the last quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC now owns 5,357,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,412,000 after purchasing an additional 56,406 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 5,281,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,250,000 after purchasing an additional 735,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lloyds Banking Group by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,280,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,118,000 after purchasing an additional 209,486 shares in the last quarter. 2.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised Lloyds Banking Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Berenberg Bank began coverage on Lloyds Banking Group in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. They set a “hold” rating and a $2.75 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lloyds Banking Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.55.

Lloyds Banking Group Stock Performance

LYG opened at $2.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.42 billion, a PE ratio of 6.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.29. Lloyds Banking Group plc has a fifty-two week low of $1.88 and a fifty-two week high of $2.72.

Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE:LYG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $14.35 billion during the quarter. Lloyds Banking Group had a return on equity of 10.35% and a net margin of 13.41%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lloyds Banking Group plc will post 0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lloyds Banking Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a $0.046 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 5.9%. Lloyds Banking Group’s payout ratio is currently 47.37%.

Lloyds Banking Group Profile

Lloyds Banking Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of banking and financial services in the United Kingdom and internationally. It operates in three segments: Retail; Commercial Banking; and Insurance, Pensions and Investments. The Retail segment offers a range of financial service products, including current accounts, savings, mortgages, motor finance, unsecured loans, leasing solutions, and credit cards to personal customers.